I have had the opportunity to use the QiKU Q Terra for well over a month. In fact when I started using the phone I had no idea the phone will ultimately be called the Q Terra. The phone, the result of a tie-up between Chinese handset maker Coolpad and web security company 360, was recently launched in India with the clear idea of offering everything an expensive flagship does though at a fraction of that price. QiKU Q Terra is the latest OnePlus.

QiKU Q Terra

QiKU Q Terra comes with a near bezel less display offering great screen real estate

The QiKU Q Terra is undoubtedly one of the most stylish phones around. Actually, it is rare for a phone to have seamless bezel when a lot of companies actually end up showing this as a feature on the box. The phone hardly has a bezel and the superb display gets as much space as possible making the phone great to look at. The full metal body gives it the feel of something that will last.

The QiKU Q Terra is in my books one of the best looking, feeling android phones. I loved the OnePlus One when I first saw it and the Terra inspired in me the same feeling.

The phone also has one of the the best displays and it helps that it’s been used in a bezel-minimising fashion adding more user value and, of course, more real estate. Switch to one of the preloaded wallpapers and you are sure people will want to know what is that thing of beauty in your hand.

The phone is the result of a JV with a security company and that shows in the UI and software. For instance there is a clean up button that you will click just to see the animation. The UI is uncluttered and notifications give you just what you want. The keyboard in India is swiftly by default.

Again, the phone has an excellent camera. It is a very unique rear camera too, pairing a 13MP colour camera with a black and white sibling. As a regular you get the kind of detail not usually seen in smartphones. There are no blurry edges here, just perfect lines. Also for those who click a lot of text there is no better camera.

The overall performance is at par with any Android flagship. The phone does not heat up when pushed to perform a tough task or do two things at the same time. Multi tasking is easy with the UI.

The battery on the phone is good to last a full day, but like other phones this is not something you can bet on. There were days when the battery packed up in well under 10 hours without even too much usage.

For the record, the phone has the fastest fingerprint scanner I have seen in any phone. However, it was a bit of a struggle setting it up as Chinese text on the page kept confusing me till I decided to do my own thing.

What’s not right?

I have used three versions of this phone so far, right from the first Chinese version to the Indian one. But the product managers have not really been able to take China out of this phone. The final version throws up Chinese text here and there, often leaving you wondering what it all means. When the battery drains out there is Chinese, thankfully the icons tell you that it’s time for a recharge.

QiKU Q Terra features a rear fingerprint scanner and it is one of the fastest fingerprint scanner seen in any phone

The phone has a Swype keyboard. But if you don’t use Swype and just want to type then the accuracy rates are a bit low. I kept typing wrong keys and started thinking I had hand coordination issues. But thankfully it was just the keyboard.

The display is great, but it has issues in sunlight. I struggled to click some outdoor photos as I could not see what I was clicking. To be fair to QiKU, this seems to be an issue with most phones that have resolution beyond 1080p.

Should you buy?

Yes, if you want a stylish, powerful and functional Android phone. But wait for a build that will not want you to carry a Mandarin dictionary.